Newly (working) diagnosed with a Universal Credit question

Ohh that REALLY rubs me the wrong way that 'lets focus on the children' part. What about the adults who lives are already messed up because they didnt bother to look into it. Obviously a case of already broken so not point trying to fix it (so to speak). I despise such half-jobs where they ignore the result of their own ignorance.

For me knowing for sure is more what I am after, the meds part I can worry about after that (though I hate taking any meds past painkillers so that might be an issue for me).

Saeryne said:

It is called 'Right to Choose'. I checked with my mental health nurse and she says you can use it if the wait with your chosen company will be less then the NHS list. Though they HAVE to state they accept NHS patients.

I looked at PsychiatryUK under the 'Right to Choose' rules, but most places are currently not taking new referrals, for whatever reason.  I think a lot are saying after Covid the aim is more towards dealing with Children and their issues.

Add to that the current shortage / lack of ADHD meds worldwide and it's a bit of a pooch screw.  My friend was diagnosed with ADHD last year and he said to me his provider had learned about the potential shortages and given him enough to tide him over for about 6 months, but he has started only using them on work days, because there is no end to the current issues, that he can see.

I think the main killer for me is the zero focus/concentration.  If I could treat that one problem, that would fix maybe 90% of my life.  For now I struggle.

I hope your situation improves, Saeryne

I am in a similar situation to you. I want to move out, get my own place etc.

There is a law that you can use to have your assessment done by a third party company that has a contract with the NHS.

It is called 'Right to Choose'. I checked with my mental health nurse and she says you can use it if the wait with your chosen company will be less then the NHS list. Though they HAVE to state they accept NHS patients.

I dont know if I can link other websites here but it is websites like 'adhd-360'. (they do adhd and asd so I will be going with them though I am waiting until Mar next year, if I hear nothing from the NHS)

Less hassle is what I would like. They only call me every 3 months, but they have me on the 'work related activities' and I worry they see me as 'agoraphobia = treatable = we can give her a deadline when this will be fixed'.

Thanks guys.

I'm in a similar predicament.  I am 48, unemployed due to, well, a lot of things besides ASD.  Living with my parents.  I want to move out, get a job (again), maybe buy a cheap house somewhere, have a girlfriend (possibly if I can find someone that would tolerate me).

My advice is to tell the jobcentre about the asd/adhd, but it's unlikely they will reassess you, unless you haven't had one for a while.  They will probably hassle you less.  Unfortunately I lost my PIP and was so burnt out after the second round of appeals I gave up.  PIP and ESA assessments are weird.  PIP I went from enough points for lowest level PIP to zero points, then 3 points in 2 years, yet my circumstances haven't changed.  The ESA assessor, on the other hand, was more interested in mental health than anything else and after having a frank discussion about my state through Covid he said he didn't need any more.  My adviser from the Jobcentre rang me up and said she wouldn't be calling me any more, a week later.

I've been wondering whether to go private for the adhd diagnosis. I am told the waiting list is currently around 7 years in my area and I've been on the list since 2020.  The cost is prohibitive, but having the diagnosis would probably make my life a lot better and afford me access to medication that can actually improve my life.

You are asked to inform UC in your account, online,  about any changes, this includes your health. I would start there. If a medical professional has given you what you say a working diagnosis then UC may be able to contact them for proof to support what you are saying. It is likely as someone mentioned, that they will "go easy" on you in relation to work, training ect. They may also place you in support group with having limited capacity, which i think may award more money, but not 100% sure about how much. 

they wont give you any more for it but if you tell them they will likely not be on your case as much....

even for reyanaurds syndrome that i didnt actually get formally diagnosed just my gp said i could have it, just by mentioning that i had the job center no longer try to force me into outside cold jobs or freezer food processing jobs. so they will cut slack on things based on these things you tell them.

I didn't know UC had bands.

Thanks, sorry for the late reply. 

I have a working diagnosis, but nothing formal. I am on UC as having agoraphobia and I am considering if it is worth having UC reassessed with this new diagnosis as well.

i dunno, they gave you diagnosis of autism and adhd already right though?

but you want reassessed to remove the agoraphobia diagnosis? .... i think removing diagnosis will likely get you less rights if anything. i mean if they already gave you autism and adhd diagnosis you dont really need to remove the agoraphobia one, it will all stack.... really the more you have the more the job center will likely have to give some slack.